But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’” vs. 38
Mark 4:35-38
The disciples weren’t sleeping during the windstorm on the Sea of Galilee. The boat was bouncing on the waves, and they feared for their lives. But when Jesus was somehow able to sleep, they woke him up, somehow assuming that he didn’t care that they were about to perish. At first their conclusion seems bizarre—until we realize that we regularly make that assumption about his presence in our lives. Even when we believe that Jesus is present in our lives, for some reason when our lives go south and we find ourselves on a sinking ship, our first conclusion is that we’ve been deserted, and that our Lord doesn’t care. Our prayers in those instances often contain the question, “Are you sleeping, Jesus?” And we wonder why something isn’t being done about the pickle we’ve found ourselves in. In Mark’s story Jesus responds to the disciples’ question with one of his own, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” That’s a good question for us to ponder too. Just how often is our anxiety in difficult situations triggered by a lack of faith? Admittedly it’s hard to trust when times are tough—our minds seem programmed to catastrophize and to consider worst case scenarios. But what a difference it makes when faith is present and trust is second nature!
Thought for the Day: When is faith difficult for me?
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